Linear and rotary displacement transducers are used in a number of applications to determine a relative position of two or more objects relative to one another along measurement axes. Displacement transducers may utilize various mechanisms, such as electricity, magnetism and/or light, to make such a determination.
Inductive displacement transducers are a class of displacement transducers that operate on the principle that an inductive coupling between coils or loops of a transformer can be increased or decreased when electrically conductive or magnetically soft materials (hereafter referred to as “flux modulators”) are present in the coupling field (i.e., the flux). This class includes “eddy current”, “screened” inductance, “modulated” inductance, and “spoiled” inductance transducers.